Studiology

Sewing

I play around with sewing. It all began two years ago when a friend sent me a fabric postcard. I became obsessed with it, enough to acquire a sewing machine and learn simple stitching. A few postcards later and the urge to learn more, I moved up to a better sewing machine. I am currently working on free motion sewing and hand sewn embellishments. Metallic threads and variegated thread are so much fun and my current obsession!

It kind of spread out into the garden and I started stitching leaves. Yarn bombing may have had something to do with it, or my lecture at Virginia Tech titled "The Dark Side". At first I thought the thread would tear the leaves and leave them shredded. My expectations were low. Surprisingly the thread did not tear the leaves and lasted until the leaf curled up and died. This was my opening slide to "The Dark Side" lecture.

Here are some of the black leafed elephant ears with red thread in the garden.

I think it could use more practice. As the year ended, I was sewing hyacinth bean seed pods and they were really cool. 

My fabric cards are for sale at the Lorton Workhouse  (http://www.workhousearts.org/), and at Bella Vista Antiques (http://www.bellavillashop.com/) in Aldie, Virginia. Both are places that are worth visiting. The Lorton Workhouse is the old prison turned art center. Bella Vista Antiques is one of my favorite places to visit, it has such charisma! Plus it's right here in downtown Aldie. 

Beautiful March Things

My perennial garden is not large and it's mostly shade. The plants I do own are kind of special, I am a plant snob. Many wonderful things are yet to come, but for the middle of March, I'm not doing too bad. A few things I would like to share are highlighted here. All are easy to grow, not always easy to find.

The first is Corydalis solida 'George Baker'. A bulbous type corydalis that you find for sale with bulbs in fall and plant in October. I have had this one in different gardens over the years, it's outstanding. This particular plant was given to me by Judy Springer, an extraordinary gardener that lives near Staunton, Virginia. She has many corydalis, this one is the first to flower, always a joy to admire in the garden. Only eight or so inches tall and very floriferous.  

Blooming near by is a yellow helleborus, a hybrid from Graham Birkin of Great Britain. Graham used to sell me helleborus when I had Windy Hill Plant Farm, all sent as bare root divisions of his best hybrids. His yellow is incomparable, easily seen from a great distance in the woodland garden. No particular name, only yellow hellebore. 

Lastly is Rhododendron mucronulatum. Also known as snow azalea, it consistently flowers in March and is a perfect partner to corylopsis. Very difficult to find, I can only guess that it might flower too early for big nurseries to bother with, or it's hard to propagate. It's presence in the garden is light and delicate, the flowers arrive on naked stems. I had Merrifield Gardens order 15 for me (they came from the West Coast), I kept three and doled the others out to fellow plant snobs. We love things that flower in March!

Osmanthus Reduction and Gardening Symposium

I'm back to work at my gardening jobs. Some serious weeding and pruning is going on at Oak Hill. Peter Deahl brought out a crew to work on various trees and shrubs today. Peter is a master pruner, the go to guy for disciplining the garden. He and his crew masterfully reduced the false holly or Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Variegatus' by 50%. A relatively fast growing shrub that becomes so dense on the outside that leaves do not grow in the interior. I was always afraid to cut it back severely as there is almost always a garden tour right around the corner. Peter, in his typically artful manner, opened it up nicely, letting light reach inner branches. Over time, the entire shrub will be reduced (as the center fills up), so it's not knocking down neighboring tree peonies.

The chaste trees or Vitex agnus castus were also pruned. Flowers are produced on new wood, so removal of large limbs is not a problem. In fact, the way these have been pruned will produce more flowering stems for summer.

Winter has been so mild, some say we are a month ahead of schedule. If I were a betting girl, I think it will be a chilly latter half of March and much of April.  It would only make sense to have temperatures drop. The mild season has left fig trees alive to the tips of their woody branches. If the stems stay alive and green, it will be a bumper crop year for figs, Yum!

The Daphne odora at Oak Hill is blooming, perfuming the entire upper terrace. I'm a sucker for fragrance, so much of my day was spent weeding around them. I'll do the same when the lilies bloom, and the linden or Tilia americana, just follow the nose...

Recently I was researching corylus, specifically Corylus americana, which grows around the pond where I walk the dog. The catkins have been sending out clouds of pollen. At Oak Hill there is a Corylus avellana 'Contorta' or Harry Lauder's Walking Stick. Also full of catkins but I see no pollen puffs. Sure enough, this selection is sterile. The tiny pink female flowers (which I only just realized were there), will not be fertilized. Another kink in Harry Lauder's cane.

There will be a gardening symposium in Leesburg on March 24th and 25th, hosted by the Loudoun County master gardeners. I will be speaking on Sunday the 25th. The title of my presentation is "Why Challenge Yourself?", a look at plants that use fewer resources yet look good. The afternoon sessions are concurrent, you have to choose between two lectures. Opposite me, at the same time, is Peter Deahl. So, just sayin, if I don't see you in my lecture, I won't blame you. I  mean really, I want to hear Peter Deahl!

Here's the link:

http://www.loudouncountymastergardeners.org/Symposium%202012/symposiumhomepage.htm

The Studio

I have yet to explain why the title of my blog is "Studiology". I hope to have a better banner at the top of my blog, eventually showing some of the studio in studiology.  But for now I can say that this came about when I was able to garner a studio space and start working there. I have my own working space and an area with strobes for photography. Three other artists work there and Linda Carlson, my inspiration, is in the studio next to me. We share the stobe lights and various accesories,  a joint effort. 

For many a month we have been planning a goth shoot. We needed a model with white skin and black hair. We have both been buying accesories and my trip to New Orleans was particularly successful for goth goodies. 

Here are a few of the original photographs from the shoot. Our model is named Ariel and she came down from Pennsylvania, prepared to pose in goth fashion.  I have about 500 shots from this sittting, a successful day in the studio.